Revision as of 14:38, 25 June 2007

Jefferson Randolph, to whom Jefferson had entrusted his business affairs in 1817, was forced to admit that, after eight years, he was unable to stabilize them. The old patriarch's financial burdens, brought on chiefly by the failure of his estate to handle his large obligations, were staggering. This, coupled with the bankruptcy of Wilson Cary Nicholas, whose note Jefferson had endorsed in 1817, gave him the coup de grace. The Spring of 1826 was a gloomy one for Jefferson and the household. The portents for Monticello and its occupants were ominous.

The aged patriot and his grandson cast about for possible means of relief. Bankruptcy would serve no useful purpose and,
even if unavoidable, it would leave Martha and her younger children without a roof over their heads and with but few pennies in their pockets. From the recesses of a still active mind Jefferson drew out the ageold expedient of disposing of a part of his holdings by lottery. This had frequently been done in Virginia under similar circumstances. Lotteries were prohibited by law and this made it necessary for him to obtain permission from the State Legislature. He petitioned that body and accompanied his petition with a dissertation on lotteries in which he attempted to anticipate any possible
objections.

Jefferson referred to his straitened circumstances and his plans to alleviate them in a letter of January 20, 1826, to his friend, collaborator on the University of Virginia, and a member of tlie Virginia General Assembly, Joseph C. Cabell:

"My application to the Legislature is for permission to dispose of property . . . in a way which, bringing a fair
price for it, may pay my debts, and leave a living for myself in my old age, and leave something for my family.
Their (Legislature) consent is necessary. It will injure no man, and few sessions pass without similar exercise of the
same power in their discretion . . . I think it just myself . . . To me it is almost a question of life and death."

As soon as the public learned of his plight the "liveliest sympathy heightened by surprise" was manifested in many areas of
the country. Plans for his relief were advanced in the newspapers, and meetings were held for the purpose of raising funds
by voluntary contributions. Even so, the favored scheme at this time continued to be the lottery.

Thomas J. Randolph arrived in Richmond in January to promote the bill, soon to come before the Legislature, that would allow his grandfather to pursue the lottery plan. Randolph's initial report to Monticello was optimistic. He noted "that the leading men have taken up the affair with zeal, and are making their impressions upon others . . .your friends are confident of success." Despite these early impressions, the bill was not to have smooth sailing; in fact, there
were strong swells of opposition, even in Albemarle County. At home some demurred on religious and moral grounds while others thought it would hurt Jefferson's good name. Legislative opposition came from friend and foe: many were in no mood to assist the arch democrat even in an almost dying gesture, while the rest were honestly concerned with the effect on his reputation.

The petition was first introduced on the floor of the House of Delegates on February 8, 1826. The vote without debate on reading the bill was against passage, 95 to 94. "Its enemies," Randolph wrote, "bad been active against it and shunned debate." This was, however, only a temporary setback, for its proponents won permission, but by only four votes, to place it before the House a second time. Cabell was sanguine about eventual passage, but not without the stigma of an ncomfortably large minority opposing it.

The bill was presented again after an
impassioned plea by Delegate Loyal1 of
Norfolk. Delegate Blackburn then moved to
lay the bill on the table for several days so
that the delegates might have more time to
consider the subject. After a discussion, Blackburn called for a vote on his tabling
motion but it was defeated by 140 to 43.
The vote on the bill was taken on February
20 and it passed the House by 125 to 62
and the Senate by 13 yeas to 4 nays.

The bill authorized Jefferson "to dispose
of any part of his real estate by lottery, for
the payment of his debts." A proviso which
affected earlier plans allowed no more money
to be raised by the sale of tickets than the
amount of a fair evaluation. Randolph and
Jefferson had hoped that the value of the
tickets might be worth not more than $60,000
and this for one prize only, the Shadwell
Mills and accompanying land. This proved
to be very unrealistic because the depressed
value of Albemarle County land would
necessitate the inclusion of nearly all Jefferson's
Albemarle and possibly some of the
Bedford lands if the prize were to be attractive.
When Randolph suggested Monticello
might be included, his grandfather was
reported to have "turned white," but he
realized the hopelessness of the situation and
"after a while came into it."

When the law authorizing the lottery was
passed, Randolph thought of turning to
lottery brokers in one of the large northern
metropolitan centers. He decided in the early
Spring that Yates and McIntyre of New York
City might handle the scheme. They agreed,
and added their agents' services without
compensation. Their prospectus advertised
that the winning combination would be drawn
from 11,477 tickets at $10. each, a rather
high fignre for that day. The following
prizes were listed:

1 prize, the Monticello estate
valued at per subjoined
certificate under oath at $71,000

1 do. the Shadwell Mills at $30,000

1/3 do. the Albemarle Estate at $11,500

For a total of 11,477 blanks, $112,500

Unfortunately Randolph failed to give complete
control of the scheme to his brokers at
this time when the fervor for aiding Jefferson
was at its highest. His failure to act caused
his contemporary and, later, a Jefferson
biographer, St. George Tucker, to write that
"this course might then have been practicable
as it certainly would have been efficient."

Final authority to begin the sale was postponed
by the Committee of Citizens of New
York City under the leadership of Mayor
Philip Hone and other patriotic groups
throughout the country. They believed, and
convinced Randolph, that the needed money
could be raised by voluntary public subscription
in a dignified manner and at less expense
and trouble to Jefferson. Their plan promised
that Jefferson would not lose his much beloved
patrimony, Monticello.

Jefferson did not object to the promises
held out by Hone and the others but he was disturbed over the effect the subscriptions
might have on the lottery, whose plans were
now well advanced. Under the hope of
quicker, easier, and less costly results, and
the influence of Randolph, the old man gave
in. The lottery was quietly laid aside.
Mayor Hone's Committee raised $6,500;
the Committee in Philadelphia subscribed
$5,000; $3,000 came from Baltimore and
lesser sums from elsewhere. The total was
about $16,500. This gave Jefferson some
measure of relief but it did not solve his
problems because his total indebtedness was
more than $100,000. The results, however,
meagre, cheered the old gentleman in his last
months for they did indicate the esteem in
which he was held by so many of his fellow
citizens. Even before his death signs indicated
that the subscriptions might prove
abortive. They finally did. Happily, Jefferson
never knew this when he died on July 4,
1826.

As the contributions diminished Randolph
returned to the lottery scheme and he urged
Yates and McIntyre to revive it publicly.
They did this by printing the prospectus in
the Richmond Enquirer on July 28, 1826.
Oddly, nothing further appeared until September
19 when the following notice was run
in the same paper:

Jefferson Lottery. Orders enclosing the
cash (post paid) for tickets in this
Lottery, will be punctually attended to
if addressed to Yates and McIntyre
Agents for the Managers under the
Eagle Hotel Richmond. Sept. 8.

This notice was of short duration and it was
seen for the last time in the issue of October
31. Apparently this was the final attempt
of the agents to dispose of the tickets.

The delay until Jefferson's death was as
costly for the lottery as it had been for the
subscriptions. Many who wished to assist
Jefferson were not williig to do the same
for his family. Other causes contributed to
the failure of the lottery. Its prizes were
not particularly attractive to the average
purchaser. They were, after all, solely in
over-valued land which could not he disposed
of for anything near the lottery's estimated
value.

Nevertheless, Randolph continued. Early
in 1827 he was in Washington endeavoring
to elevate the lottery to a national scale by
an act of Congress. Again he was doomed
to failure. Later a trip to New York City,
where he tried to revive the original plan
of a state lottery also failed. In Maryland
permission to sell the tickets was refused
if the drawing was to be united (which it
was) with the proposed National Washington
City Lottery to be handled by Yates and
McIntyre. Finally, the New York State
Legislature was threatening to do away with
the sale of all lottery tickets.

One member of the family came to believe
that these barriers would "blast the scheme."
Randolph had become so discouraged in 1827
that he informed one of his sisters that he
was ready to "let it go." When he did is
difficult to ascertain. However, February 20,
1828, when James Madison wrote Jefferson's
friend, the Marquis de Lafayette, that "the
lottery owing to several causes bas entirely
failed" might be an appropriate date.

His decision, of course, did nothing to
help the still desperate state of his grandfather's
affairs. He had now to look elsewhere
for funds. These might be obtained from
the sale of Jefferson's personal property and
slaves. Unfortunately, there was nothing else
left.